July 17, 2003 - 18:38 AMT
KARABAKH SETTLEMENT DISCUSSED AT TOP LEVEL IN PARIS
In the course of a meeting in Paris presidents of Armenia and France Robert Kocharian and Jacques Chirac paid special attention to the problem of settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Robert Kocharian told journalists yesterday after the meeting. Specifically, in his words, the present state of the conflict, prospects of its development, as well as possible terms of activation of the negotiation process aiming at its solution were discussed. "I think it will be possible to activate the peace process upon completion of the presidential election in Azerbaijan," - R. Kocharian said. The leaders of the two countries also discussed opportunities of more active involvement of France in the conflict settlement process. "Co-chairing the OSCE Minsk group, France can play a large role in making considerable progress at the talks," - R. Kocharian noted. He reported that in the course of the meeting bilateral Armenian-French relations were also discussed. "Today there are no controversial issues between our countries, the topics discussed were diverse and the negotiations - constructive," - R. Kocharian noted. In the course of the meeting the parties also discussed prospects of activation of the cooperation between the European Union and the South Caucasian countries.